doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (03/11/86)
A new advertising campaign touts TUMS as a calcium supplement.
But but but... when I had an ulcer a couple of years ago, my FP
suggested that I routinely take antacids as a prophylactic measure
(at least during the spring and fall "busy" seasons for ulcers).
He was insistent that I use only non-absorbed antacids (Maalox and
Riopan), and definitely not absorbed antacids (Tums and Rolaids).
Question: if you take Tums on a regular basis, aren't you likely to
suffer from alkalosis?
--
Doug Pardee -- CalComp -- {hardy,savax,seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!terak!doughsf@hlexa.UUCP (Henry Friedman) (03/14/86)
> .... > Question: if you take Tums on a regular basis, aren't you likely to > suffer from alkalosis? > ..... The package advises that each TUM is equivalent to 20% RDA for calcium, and that 5 could be taken for 100%. The regular usage warning is that no more than 16 should be taken in 24 hours and that that max dosage shouldn't be continued for more than a week (for gastro upset). I doubt that the 5 TUMS would present a danger of alkalosis, any more than would those calcium carbonate tablets that are sold strictly as cacium supplements (and which are much more expensive than the TUMS). The TUMS have the added advantage of tasting good enough to suck; so one gets both the calcium and a nice coating action for the gastro side. (But I guess there are some conditions predisposing toward alkalosis, such a vomiting or other loss of CL that could be aggravated. The MD types will no doubt answer that one for us.) --Henry Friedman
john@ur-tut.UUCP (John Gurian) (03/19/86)
> Question: if you take Tums on a regular basis, aren't you likely to > suffer from alkalosis? The acid-base balance of the body is extremely important, as many proteins & reactions only take place within a narrow pH (normally 7.35-7.45). As such, the body tries to maintain this balance, and will do so by adjusting the amount of bicarb and organic acids excreted by the kidney, and the amt of CO2 (an acid, actually) in the blood through respiratory rate -> which is why when you hyperventilate, you get dizzy; you blow off acid and temporarily suffer a respiratory alkalosis. -- -- John Gurian -- !{harvard,seismo,topaz}!rochester!ur-tut!john